Archives for Faculty of Agriculture

Over the summer, I was able to think about my career, my family, and on the future of our Faculty. As most of you know that I am truly passionate about research in the broad area of food distribution and policy. Therefore, I have notified the university that I will be stepping down as Dean, effective September 1, 2018. Over the next few months, with the support of the university, I plan to devote a great deal of my time to preparing a proposal for a new Institute in Agri-food analytics, with partners on campus and across the country. I will have an office in both Halifax and Truro, starting in September.

I will truly miss serving our Faculty, staff and students. Over the past two years, we have accomplished great things together. Last year was one of the strongest fundraising years on record, with a total of $3.5 million in new commitments (including $450K in annual giving, another near-record).

I am also so proud that we have: launched CDL-Atlantic, gained Senate approval for an MSc program to enhance the Rowe School of Business’s research activity, proposed a significant revision of the MBA, changed the purpose of CEGE/CFAME and gave academic authority of graduate programs back to schools, renewed our Faculty complement in both the School for Resources and Environmental Studies (SRES) and the School of Public Administration (SPA), we partnered with the NSCC on a 2+2 agreement for our BMGT program which has seen accepted offers increase by 34% this year, supported the university in centralizing its entrepreneurship and innovation efforts, and the list goes on.

I am also proud of a few other accomplishments. As mentioned before, we recently learned that the Faculty of Management was granted its first SSHRC Canada Research Chair Tier I ($1.4m over 7 years), in renewable energy/clean tech. The CRC will be housed in SRES. The search is ongoing. This is a significant step forward for our Faculty. Our PhD proposal in resources and sustainability is also moving along the approval process. Several Faculties, including Science, Architecture and Agriculture have provided us with their support for the program.

We are also working with Computer Science and our other partner Faculties, Law, and Medicine to revamp the Masters in Electronic Commerce. Its new name (Master of Digital Innovation) and concept paper, was reviewed and supported by the Provost recently. These changes were long overdue.

The CDL-Atlantic has allowed 12 scalable start-ups to complete the program in Halifax and will continue their journey. It will be exciting to see our second cohort perform this Fall. Many of these businesses will resume their activities in our region, which is wonderful for our economy.

We also gave inaugural staff awards to recognize the work and dedication of our staff members, which was one of the highlights of my Deanship. They do so much for us.

I believe our Faculty and University can achieve great things together. As a faculty member, I will continue to work to ensure Dalhousie and our Faculty continues to prosper in its third century of existence.

I would remiss if I did not thank my crew in the Dean’s Office: Janet, Vivian, Mike, Dominika, Louis, Anna, Marianne, Nicole, Sue and Jen and a few others who have since left the university. They have been a wonderful support throughout. Also, my directors over the past two years, Michelle, Peter T., Peter D., Bob, Lori, Sandra, Benoît, Jeff, Robert, Florence, Martine and Mary, all have been incredibly helpful and resourceful. Our Advisory Board members, led by Doug Reid, have also been a great support over the past two years. Louise, our Secretary at Faculty Council has done a great job keeping our group productive and disciplined, thank you Louise. As Chair of Governing Council, I also want to acknowledge Kevin Quigley’s outstanding work as Director of the MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance. It was a pleasure to work with Kevin over the last few years.

And finally, the students. Our students at Dalhousie and in our Faculty are amazing citizens and I hope to continue to achieve great things with them over the next few years.